The Light Surrounding You
by onemorehandmedown
Summary: Since Dean came back the brothers have fought their way through legions of demons. Finally they end up in a sort of endgame fight with a particularly nasty demon. This story covers the aftermath of that endgame. Warning: Character Death


Disclaimer: Supernatural belongs to Kripke and co. If I can one day write something even almost that good I will be very, very happy!

**The Light Surrounding You**

Sam's body exploded with pain as he was launched into the air. He couldn't see Dean but he could hear him, voice thick with anger, spewing curses like there was no tomorrow. Maybe there wasn't. Then he hit the ground and there was nothing.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been out, but it couldn't have been too long as the sky was still pitch black. Silence blanketed the clearing and Sam tensed, wondering if this was the calm before yet another storm. Clearly Dean had shut up …

DEAN!

Sam pulled himself into a sitting position and looked around frantically for his brother. It was hard to see anything in the dark, other than the looming silhouettes of the trees that surrounded the place Lilith had chosen for their showdown. Finally, as his eyes adjusted to the gloom he was able to make out two dark shapes on the ground. Pulling himself up with much effort he crept towards the larger of the two, not wanting to alert anything that might be watching, and dropped down beside it. It was definitely Dean.

"Dean?" Sam whispered, shaking his shoulder gently. There was no response. "Dean?" He shook a bit harder. Still no response. He must be unconscious, Sam told himself as his panic built. He laid his hand on Dean's chest. His shirt was ripped and Sam's hand met bare skin that was far too cold, not to mention sticky with what was probably blood. Sam could deal with the blood; what he couldn't deal with was the fact that Dean's chest was still. He moved his hand to Dean's neck and tried to find a pulse, but no matter where he put his hand he could feel nothing. A lone tear trickled down his cheek as he put his hand back on Dean's chest, still trying to find some evidence of breathing because he just didn't want to believe what his first investigation had told him. Dean couldn't be dead, he just couldn't be.

Suddenly the scene was illuminated by a soft light coming from somewhere behind him. Sam ignored it. It was probably that bitch Lilith coming back to gloat. He could see Dean's bruised and bloodied form clearly now, dissolving his denial. His tears flowed freely now and he let out an anguished moan.

The light shifted a little and a warm arm wrapped around Sam's shoulders. He was about to turn, to tell the bitch to back off if she knew what was good for her, when he heard the voice.

"Hey, Sammy. You ready to come home?"

The voice was gentle and loving. It also belonged to Dean. That friggin' demon had some nerve to imitate his brother after she had killed him! Sam whipped around, knocking the arm away, unarmed and completely defenceless but intending to give her a piece of his mind, if not his fists, all the same. He was completely taken aback by what he saw.

It was Dean, his body unmarred by blood, bruises or scars and his clothes untorn. His form was outlined by soft white light as though he was lit from behind by the sun, except that dawn was yet to arrive. The expression on his face was one of hurt confusion.

"What was that for?" Dean demanded.

"Is that really you?" Sam asked uncertainly. "Not some hell spawn wearing your face?"

"If it was a demon or something do you think it'd tell you? Yes it's me Sam." Dean snapped. "So I'll ask you again. Are you ready to come home?"

"What do you mean, 'come home'? Since when have we had a home?" He didn't bother pointing out that Dean was a spirit, certain his brother must be aware of that given that he was standing right next to his dead body.

"Sam, Lilith's dead. The war is over. We can't stay here anymore."

"You said once before that it was never going to be over. Just because Lilith's dead it doesn't mean that the world is suddenly free of supernatural nasties."

"Ok, I'll rephrase that. The war is over for us." Dean's tone was gentle.

"I still don't understand what you're talking about."

Dean's face filled with something like dawning comprehension.

"Sammy, come for a walk."

They had moved only a few paces in the direction Sam had come from when Sam encountered what was arguably the creepiest sight he'd seen in his life: his own dead body. He stared at it in silence.

"Now do you understand?" Sam nodded, numbly. How could he have not noticed that he'd left his body behind? As he thought about the implications of being dead a new fear emerged. Sam knew that to move on without having your bones salted and burned you had to go into the light, but the only light he could see was that surrounding Dean and how was Dean supposed to step into that?

"So Dean," he asked casually, "can you see any light?"

Dean looked surprised. "Can't you see it? It's all around you."

"You're the one who's glowing Dean, not me."

To Sam's surprise Dean looked relieved.

"Guess we just walk into each other then. I was wondering how you were going to walk into yourself."

He smiled and put his arms around Sam, squeezing him in a tight hug. Sam hugged back and the clearing was thrown into sharp relief with a sudden burst of intense light. Then the Winchesters were gone and it was plunged back into darkness.


End file.
